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Help upgrading to LED/projector headlights

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by Cutter_, Nov 15, 2019.

  1. Nov 18, 2019 at 9:19 AM
    #21
    ThunderOne

    ThunderOne Well-Known Member

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    those are discontinued, and when they were made, they cost about $1000. You are better off doing an HID retrofit with cheap ebay projectors if you really are on a budget, just look at Mini H1 projectors on Amazon or ebay, get some GOOD ballasts, a relay, and some H1 HID bulbs and you'll be all set.

    Just realized @Taco86er said the same thing already.
     
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  2. Nov 18, 2019 at 9:29 AM
    #22
    jbrandt

    jbrandt Made you look

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    Not that I agree with DOT's priorities, but just because they (along with NHTSB, etc...) don't think you need super bright lights in order to be "safe" doesn't mean they're a bunch of idiots. If there was any evidence that bright lights made highways safer, they'd throw the regulation hammer at the entire industry in an instant. The fact is quite the opposite. Bright lights make highways LESS safe, because even if you are doing it "properly" have have a good cut off pattern, your 11 million lumen lights still blind drivers coming over crests.

    Like I said, I've never felt like the stock lights throw an insufficient amount of light for street driving. If anything, I want more light down and to the sides for slow tight corners (i.e. ditch lights). My lights project plenty of light to see far enough ahead at 75 on a dark deserted highway to have a safe stopping distance.
     
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  3. Nov 18, 2019 at 11:20 AM
    #23
    12TRDTacoma

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    Lol, 11 million lumens :laugh:

    Well here is my problem, there is a MASSIVE inconsistency in what they seem legal and illegal. Why is it that BMW is allowed laser LED headlights and even 2016+ Corollas get LED headlights housings from the OEM which are intensely bright, the 2020 Tacos as well, yet for older tacos (and older vehicles in general), even if the retrofit is done correctly and the cutoff is there etc. etc. It is somehow illegal? You know what I'm saying.
     
  4. Nov 18, 2019 at 12:09 PM
    #24
    se7enine

    se7enine MCMLXXIX

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    You didn't pay to have them certified legal. BMW and Toyota payed the fees to have them DOT compliant.
     
  5. Nov 18, 2019 at 1:50 PM
    #25
    jbrandt

    jbrandt Made you look

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    I don't see it as a massive government conspiracy or incompetency or whatever. It's simply a matter of aftermarket support for our 20+ year old trucks. There aren't any manufacturers out there that have been willing to go through the certification process.

    But just because there are some cars/trucks out there might come with LEDs, that doesn't mean you can just go get some LEDs and slap them in your 20 year old truck and get the same result. Again, it comes back to the fact that no one has come around and made housings designed for LED or HIDs.
     
  6. Nov 18, 2019 at 2:15 PM
    #26
    12TRDTacoma

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    Well yeah, but even if it was properly made and designed specifically for a 20 year old truck, if they didn't pay X amount of dollars to get "certified" it would be deemed illegal and not safe. The part that bothers me is that it doesn't matter if an item increases safety in any way, if the bill to get certified was not paid it wouldn't even be up for consideration no matter how safe or compliant it is with current rules and regs in place.
     
  7. Nov 18, 2019 at 2:38 PM
    #27
    jbrandt

    jbrandt Made you look

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    Well, for the most part, I agree. As someone else alreay said, in CA they couldn't care less about if your brakes actually work, as long as you have that emissions sticker under your hood. I failed a smog test once just because some update to the law made the sticker for my K&N intake invalid. No change to the equipment or anything. He wouldn't even do the sniff test so I could determine if there was anything wrong with emissions before I had to come back. I had to call K&N and get an "updated" sticker. It was free, but a stupid waste of my time.


    However, who is the one making the determination if your headlights are safer? You? The guy who sold them to you?

    What industry safety certifications do you have, or what expertise do you have to make that determination?

    But because they are brighter, YOU feel they are safer for YOU, which may be true, but they are NOT as safe for everyone else on the road.

    I drive a 4x4 pickup truck, so my line of sight should be well above the "legal" cutoff beam pattern, and yet I get blinded on a routine basis by people with their aftermarket lights. Sometimes, it's pretty obvious when dork just tossed some sweet purple LEDs in his stock housings, other times the light is just really fucking bright. That makes it hard for ME to see the road. That's not safe for ME.
     
    12TRDTacoma[QUOTED] likes this.
  8. Nov 18, 2019 at 3:05 PM
    #28
    12TRDTacoma

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    Right. That is true, safety is a subjective thing. What you or I deem safe may not be safe to another John on the road.

    California is probably the worst offender of those sort of things especially when you are talking CARB and your tires being down to chords, shocks making your truck ride like a boat, and brakes metal to metal, but "hey, it passed emissions testing, so have a nice day." :rofl:

    I actually drive a lot more than I did in the past few years on the highways and so I see all the jerk offs using their highs in conjunction with their lows while driving, (those piss me off the worst because they know better), the ones who toss HIDs in their Halogen setups, the ones who drive with their DRLs on, and those who drive with their headlights entirely off. All equally make me feel a certain sense of anger in my heart, but I just do my best to stay away from them and hope that everyone else chooses to do the same to avoid accidents and further complications with those folks.
     
  9. Nov 18, 2019 at 3:07 PM
    #29
    tony2018

    tony2018 Well-Known Member

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    fyi, corolla's led isn't that bright...
     
  10. Nov 18, 2019 at 3:17 PM
    #30
    jbrandt

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  11. Nov 18, 2019 at 3:20 PM
    #31
    12TRDTacoma

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    No I know that, I was actually noticing that yesterday when I saw one driving down the road with me. Try looking at the car as you are the oncoming driver from the other side though. They blind you like hell, and that's that they are properly aimed.

    Gotta love Toyota and their extortionist pricing right? Lol.
     
  12. Nov 18, 2019 at 3:44 PM
    #32
    jbrandt

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    It's not just Toyota though. Most car manufacturers are doing this crap. Back in the day, cars were just a series of parts bolted together, which works, but new cars have all these completely integrated parts. In the end, it's more efficient to operate, and arguably looks better, but it takes 4 hours to replace a headlight bulb.

    Precisely why I like my 1st gen, it's modern enough without all the highly integrated plastic bumper crap.

    My '17 4Runner has this stupid plastic cover over the engine that serves absolutely no purpose, except to hide any potential leaks. I could probably save 20 pounds of weight just by taking off all the useless panels and covers in the engine bay.
     
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  13. Nov 18, 2019 at 3:58 PM
    #33
    12TRDTacoma

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    I got rid of mostly the stupid plastic garbage in the front that holds my 2nd gen together and went all metal or practical. I feel like after the shift to 3rd gen, Toyota really went sell out with this plastic garbage on these trucks and in general. It's a crying shame man.

    I miss the cars of yesteryear but sadly the attempt to "disposable vehicles" are now the new thing that manufacturers are after.
     
  14. Nov 18, 2019 at 4:07 PM
    #34
    jbrandt

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    Agree 100%. I don't know that they are "disposable" but they are definitely not user serviceable anymore. Although that is a secondary byproduct. When it costs the equivilent of 4 car payments to replace the headlights, why not just trade it in...

    Tthe specific reason I have a 1st Taco vs. anything else is because it really was the last year before Toyota decided they were going to try and out pace GM as the world's largest manufacturer. Quality took a back seat to quantity. Still better than anything else out there, but not as good as "the good old days" lol.
     
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  15. Nov 19, 2019 at 8:23 AM
    #35
    Cutter_

    Cutter_ [OP] I probably could have googled this

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    Their customer service told me I can plug and play their LED bulbs into my existing OEM housing, good option?
     
  16. Nov 19, 2019 at 8:51 AM
    #36
    BuzzardsGottaEat

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    People are all going to say their own opinion in this is fine that’s fine everything is fine but in the camp of those who do things right there’s really two options.

    1. Just put some OEM style bulbs into your OEM headlight housing and call it a day, or;

    2. Full Projector Retrofit from TRS with a good clean cut-off line as to not blind oncoming folk.

    Anything else sends light all over the place, or is janky in various ways.

    My Pickup has TRS projector retrofits.
    My 4Runner has stock headlights.

    Both work just fine.

    Don’t get caught up with all these morons who just have to keep spending and spending and spending on a depreciating asset to look cool for the other boys. It’s idiotic at best.

    If you truly need to upgrade lights for better visibility either do a projector retrofit (if you need that light on road/highway) or go with accessory driving lights of some kind (fitting to the needs, such as fog/driving/off-road lights).

    The right principle is always taken as an unpopular opinion, but you can either be in the camp of “right tool for the job” or be like everyone else, a tool. Good luck!
     
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  17. Nov 19, 2019 at 9:58 AM
    #37
    jbrandt

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    The retrofit source told you this??? This makes me seriously rethink the intelligence of that place.

    Sure, you can technically plug in LED bulbs into the stock halogen housings. But that is literally the worst thing you can do if you want to have a quality light. Go ahead and bro it up with some LEDs in your stock housings, but there are plenty of threads here that demonstrate why that's a bad idea.

    https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2019
  18. Nov 19, 2019 at 10:17 AM
    #38
    cruiserguy

    cruiserguy Well-Known Member

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    The retrofit source is a reputable gig. More than likely some miscommunication or misunderstanding I'd imagine
     
  19. Nov 19, 2019 at 10:20 AM
    #39
    jbrandt

    jbrandt Made you look

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    I'd certainly hope so, hence my surprise.
     
  20. Nov 20, 2019 at 6:04 PM
    #40
    Cutter_

    Cutter_ [OP] I probably could have googled this

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    @BuzzardsGottaEat took your advice and bought the TYC CAPA certified from RockAuto, seemed like the safest bet. Going to do a bumper lightbar one day.
     

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